


Cursed is a State of Mind

by Freshnonsense42



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Penelope (2006) Fusion, M/M, Magic, Mistaken Identity, Secret Identity, Sterek Week 2019, it's literally a scene from the movie with minor tweaks, sterekscene5, this probably won't make sense if you haven't seen the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-08 07:41:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21232220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freshnonsense42/pseuds/Freshnonsense42
Summary: And only when oneof your own kindclaims this son as their own'till death do they part'will the curse be broken..Derek Hale was cursed with a wolf snout and furry wolf ears. He spent his life locked away from prying eyes to save his family embarrassment. His mother did everything she could to find someone to marry him so the curse would be broken, without revealing the family secret.It looked like Jackson Whittemore would be that person for a while.Except Jackson wouldn't marry Derek.After Derek has an adventure of his own, involving showing the world his cursed face, nearly marrying a horrible woman, and breaking the curse himself, Derek learns something interesting about the supposed Jackson Whittemore.This is what happens when Derek goes to his apartment to confront him about his true identity.





	Cursed is a State of Mind

**Author's Note:**

> This is a scene from a movie, so it'll be a lot like that scene. I changed some stuff, but it's pretty similar. 
> 
> The summary of the fic was intended to give a little background to people who hadn't seen the movie, and were brave enough to click on it anyway. If that's you, hey! Thanks!
> 
> TW: There is a suicide reference. It's brief and not detailed, but it is in there. Please be gentle with yourself.

Derek hated crowds. 

He’d gotten used to being around people and he liked being able to do things now. But it was still hard when he was surrounded by people and noise. He wouldn’t trade it for the solitude and safety of his family home, though. 

It helped that he had Erica by his side. Even if she had insisted on dressing up as a dominatrix and was the least subtle partner to have. Over the months that Derek had escaped from his parents’ and after the curse had been broken, Erica had been a true friend. Her and Boyd. 

Still, the overheated, strange apartment building with everyone half-drunk and wearing his old face made his stomach seize. This had been a stupid idea. Stiles wouldn’t want to see him. Just because he wasn’t who he’d claimed to be didn’t mean- maybe his rejection hadn’t been because he couldn’t break the curse. Maybe it had been that he couldn’t stand the way Derek looked. Could Derek accept that? 

“Christ,” said Erica as they stared at the crowd. “You’re everywhere.” 

Derek grimaced at all the wolf masks that passed by. None of them even looked like the old him actually had. “Yeah.”

“Are you freaking out?”

“’s fine.”

Erica hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Look. 342, so he must be that way.” Derek pulled on his own wolf mask and glared when Erica laughed. “Sorry. It’s just, y’know, kinda cool to see the old you.”

Derek rolled his eyes, although he understood. There were some days he missed his face so much he couldn't look himself in the mirror. He _hated_ that he missed it. That face had done nothing but torment him his entire life, but it had also been... his face. It had taken weeks for Derek to get to a point where he recognized his reflection in windows. 

And, after everything else he'd been through, he had at least reached a point where he didn't hate his current face. He could miss the wolf features and be at peace with his more human face. His therapist had told him that was excellent progress. 

He and Erica made their way to apartment 346 and knocked on the door. It took a moment until Stiles answered. He stood there in dark jeans and a button up, looking a little pale with dark circles under his eyes. He was the most beautiful thing Derek had ever seen. 

Stiles raised his brows at them and said, “Yeah?”

Derek floundered. What was he supposed to say to him? ‘Hey, I’m not a monster anymore so it’s cool. We can be together’? ‘Don’t worry, you were just one in a long line of people who rejected me, I forgive you’? ‘What have you been doing to yourself to look like that’?

“He’s gotta pee,” said Erica. Derek turned to gape at her. “You got a bathroom?”

“Uh,” Stiles glanced at Derek’s masked face, then said, “sure.”

“Great! I’m gonna get punch.”

She turned and disappeared into the crowd. “Erica,” he hissed after her, but she didn’t react. The _traitor_. When he turned back, Stiles looked vaguely amused. Derek huffed and shouldered past him. 

In the bathroom, Derek stood there blankly. He didn’t actually need to pee and he didn’t want to bother with this. He just wanted… why couldn’t Stiles babble at him? Stiles was good at making Derek feel like he wasn’t an idiot for being quiet.

But Stiles didn’t know it was him. As far as Stiles knew, Derek was just some random guy in a wolf mask. If they were going to talk about everything, Derek had to make the first move. He was the worst at that.

“So,” he said, raising his voice to be heard through the bathroom door, “are you going somewhere?” There had been an open suitcase on the bed in the studio apartment. 

There was a slight pause, then Stiles said, “Yeah. Uh, out of town for a while. You know get away from the city. Or things in the city. Gambling tables.”

“You don’t like gambling?” The file on Stiles had said he did. That he liked it a little too much, which was how he had gotten involved in the whole curse breaking mess in the first place. 

“I like it, but it doesn’t like me. I’m trying to get away from temptation and temptation for me is gambling tables. I used to be good at it.” Stiles’ voice was heavy, like he was imparting a secret.“I was great at picking up on other people’s tells. But, you know, you hit a run of bad luck and you get desperate. Then you get sloppy. Before you know it you’re just fucking around.”

“I had a friend who liked gambling.” Derek exited the bathroom and Stiles was standing there, staring at him intently. His ears burned under the sharp gaze and he knew, he just _knew_, that Stiles had figured things out. “Well, I heard he liked it”-

“Take off the mask.” Derek paused at the sharp command. Stiles looked away, his shoulders drooping. “Sorry. I- All Halloween I’ve just been running into… someone.”

Derek’s heart pounded in his chest because there could only be one person he meant. Derek was the most popular Halloween costume of the year. “Someone- someone important?”

Stiles turned his body half away and smirked at nothing. “Yeah,” he confirmed quietly. “He, uh, he was important.”

“But you don’t see him anymore?”

“No. He… wanted something I couldn’t give him.”

“What?”

Stiles turned back and met Derek’s eyes. It still sparked the same bit of electricity it had the few times they’d been able to look one another in the eye.

“To be free.”

The words hung heavy in the air. Derek knew this was his moment to explain that actually that wasn’t a worry anymore. He should come clean about everything. But his heart beat painfully and his palms were sweaty and he still wasn’t _sure_. That sounded like- but it probably wasn’t. Stiles didn’t want Derek while he was a monster. And Derek had fought too hard to love himself to be with someone like that. 

Then he caught sight of the piano in the background. He scowled beneath his mask. “You cheated,” he growled as he walked past Stiles. “I _guessed_ piano. You said”-

Stiles grabbed his wrist and twisted Derek around. He pulled Derek against him and Derek went easily. Stiles said, “Can I”-

And Derek leaned forward to meet him before he could finish. 

Stiles kissed the way he did everything. With intensity and with his whole being poured into it. Derek could barely breathe let alone think. This- this- _yes_. 

He pulled away and Derek whined pathetically. Stiles had been his weak spot basically since the day they’d met. Back when he’d tried to steal a worthless first edition of Derek’s favorite book. 

“I can’t. Derek, I’m sorry, but I can’t break the curse. I’m not a blue blood.” Stiles confessed it like the secret was ripped straight from his gut. As though the worst thing in the world was his inability to cure Derek's curse. 

When Derek had first revealed himself to Stiles, he'd begged Stiles to marry him. He had promised to kill himself if marrying Stiles didn't break the curse. That was a long time ago, back when Derek thought he would only have worth once he had a human face. Even if he were still cursed, Derek wouldn't do that to himself anymore. 

Although... that meant...

Oh. Stiles didn’t know the truth. Derek’s stomach swooped, because _that_ meant… he’d kissed Derek under the assumption he was kissing cursed Derek. With a wolf snout and furry ears. 

“I know. But, uh,” he slipped the mask off, “I could.” Stiles took a step back, his mouth parted, and his eyes wide with shock. It was so similar to his reaction when he first saw Derek’s cursed face it made Derek’s heart squeeze. “It’s me, Jackson.”

“Huh. It’s Stiles actually.”

Derek huffed a laugh and nodded. “Right. I know.”

Stiles reached out, but curled his hand into a fist before he reached his destination. “Can I?” Derek nodded. Stiles touched Derek’s human nose. He brushed over it gently, smirking slightly, and moved upwards to Derek’s eyebrows. “How?”

“Oh, uh. Me. I- I broke the curse.”

Stiles locked eyes with him and grinned, wide and brilliant. “Told you your sparkling personality was magical.”

Derek’s ears burned even as he rolled his eyes. “Shut-up.”

“Hey.” He grabbed Derek’s hands and brought them to his chest. “I’m in love with you, Derek Hale.”

“I’m in love with you, _Stiles Stilinski_.”

And they lived happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Derek's nose and ears were wolf-like when he was cursed and his mouth was human. How did that function? The same way Penelope's nose had a carotid artery running through it. Magic!
> 
> 2) I feel like most people's inclination would be to make Stiles Penelope, and I respect that and tried it for a while. But I couldn't get over the idea that Derek is canonically a werewolf. It would be interesting to have him literally be cursed with wolf features. I feel bad that the Hale parents had to be sacrificed as not loving him with his curse. Although that was another reason I couldn't use Stiles. The idea of Claudia and the sheriff not loving Stiles because of a curse hurt me worse. Idk what that says about me lol
> 
> 3) When I first saw this challenge I immediately knew which scene I was gonna do. The cafe scene from You've Got Mail. I wrote it and everything. The problem was I liked it so much I outlined a full length fic of the movie au. I decided if I could think of another scene to do for Sterek, then I'd hold onto the You've Got Mail scene and write the whole fic. And then I thought of Penelope and here we are.


End file.
